There are so many days when I go out and run and realize that although my heart and lungs would like to speed on ahead much faster than my little sprints I enjoy, that the overall constitution of my feet and legs aren't quite ready for that burst of speed that I'd really like to take.
Running well, at least in my world, is to run like a child. When children run and play, they don't run solidly at a low to middle speed for hours with padded shoes. Our daughter and her friends run as fast as they can for short bursts with as little on their feet as they can get away with. When they stop running, they are thoroughly present, playing, imagining, looking and listening. Then they sprint again. I remember doing things like that as a kid.
Recently I received an interesting mailing from Mercola.com about a conditioning program called Peak 8 or Sprint 8 created by Phil Campbell. It's all about working the anaerobic muscles of the heart, as well as setting up the body to burn fat during rest. It encourages production of human growth hormone (or as Campbell describes it, "fitness hormone"). All of these happy things especially support middle-aged folks, like me and many people I know. When we reach the middle of our lives, our growth hormone production slows and it's harder to maintain fitness levels. According to Dr. Mercola this slow-down has a lot to do with increasingly sedentary lifestyles, and is completely avoidable.
As a barefoot runner who is always working on form and avoiding too-much-too-soon injuries, the Sprint 8 sounds like a nice way to work in between runs so that when it's time to put my feet down on the pavement, it's easier to maintain form without feeling the need to run too fast and hard - at least until my constitution is ready to run with that intensity...that's something I look forward to!
It's surprisingly simple. A person sets themselves up to sprint as fast as they can for eight 30-second periods, each followed by 90 seconds of rest. Campbell suggests a stationary recumbent bicycle. Now, if only I can get over my dislike of pedaling in place...
Here is a page about the program as well as two very informative videos.
